The daily updates about new COVID-19 cases in Ontario seemed slightly more promising in the last few days, with additional diagnoses dipping from 408 on April 5 to 309 on April 6, and going up slightly to 379 yesterday.

But the numbers are on the rise again, with the province confirming 550 new novel coronavirus patients since yesterday, for a total of 5,276.

This marks the biggest one-day jump in cases of the infectious disease in Ontario so far, and an 11.6 per cent increase overnight.

WTF!!! 550. CASES. IN ONTARIO. I thought we were going down?? btw: coronavirus is a never ending pandemic.

— britt (@brittdcrawford) April 8, 2020

There have also been 21 more COVID-related deaths, making for a total of 174 in the province since the outbreak started. An additional 13 of the patients have also been admitted to the ICU since yesterday, with eight more sick enough to have to be put on ventilators.

There are currently 1,102 individuals in Ontario under investigation for potential infection, up from 691 yesterday but significantly down from days prior as the province thankfully worked through a backlog of pending tests earlier this week.

A total of 84,601 residents have been tested for the virus, though many are criticizing Ontario's low testing rate and methodology compared to other, less populous provinces.

Testing rates seem to be steadily declining, while the percentage of those tested actually turning out to be sick with the virus is increasing.

A higher percentage of those tested are testing positive, suggesting that more testing needs to be done and the criteria to qualify for a test needs to be broadened.

— COVIDUpdates (@COVIDUpdater) April 8, 2020

In the provincial government's daily epidemiological summary, it notes that more than half of cases in Ontario have been in the GTA — which is concerning given that many in the city are still not practicing safe social distancing.

With officials' grim projections for the future of the outbreak in Ontario, it's definitely time for everyone to hunker down.